Trials and Tribulations: A Drumline's Story
by Lildrummergirl
Summary: PG-13 for maybe future stuff. About a traditionally male drumline forced to have a girl on the line, much to their dislike.
1. It Starts

Jason stretched, and sighed. It had been a long morning - his muscles were sore. Correction: they felt as though he had pounded them with hammers. He took off his harness and leaned it against the brick wall. The bright sun glinted off the metal and his sweat, shining into his eyes. Shielding them from the glimmer, he turned towards the rest of the drumline. They were all huddled together, talking rapidly in low voices. He walked over to them, and joined the group.  
"Dude, what's WRONG with him??" Nick demanded. "I don't want some chick on the line! We've always been all male-and it's worked fine."  
Pete cut in. "Who's getting cut, then? We don't have any extra drums. Someone's getting kicked out!" He looked worried. His spot as 5th bass was an afterthought at best, given to him because of dedication and not talent. And being the only freshman, he knew it was in jeopardy.  
Jason interrupted. "What's going on, guys?" he asked, confused. Will answered angrily.  
"They're taking one of us off and putting some CHICK on the line!!"  
Jason's mouth dropped. "No way. They can't! Tell you what," he said, noticing the look of despair on their faces, "I'll go talk to Mr. Elling. He'll fix it, I promise."  
"He better fix it." Will muttered.  
"He will. Has he ever let you down, Will?"  
Will shook his head. "No, but there's a first time for everything, you know."  
Shaking his head at their folly, Jason left to go find out what was really going on.  
  
There was a short line outside Mr. Elling's door. No one in it was anyone Jason knew. "Freshmen." he muttered under his breath. Upon hearing him, the girl in front of him glanced back. She was beautiful, with olive skin tones and long, wavy black hair. A swipe of gold accented her eyes; her tan shirt showed off her figure well. Jason met her eyes. Perhaps freshmen aren't so bad after all... he thought .After all, most of this year's crop was quite attractive, and many were willing enough to date - or bed - the captain of the Drumline.  
Jason smiled at the girl, and she smiled back. "I just moved here, from Florida. Don't worry; I'm no freshman. I'm a junior."  
Jason cursed inwardly. So much for a willing girl. "What do you play?" he asked. "Clarinet, maybe?" She looked the type.  
She laughed. "No, I march snare."  
Just then, the door opened and Vida disappeared inside, leaving Jason standing there with an open mouth, shocked.  
  
Jason barged into Mr. Elling's office, slamming the door behind him. The director looked up.  
"Something the matter, Jason? The line seemed fine when I checked on you earlier."  
"It WAS fine," Jason snarled, "Until Jamie told us he'd been knocked to pit for some GIRL!"  
Mr. Elling blushed. "Ah yes.I had meant to talk to you about that. Have a seat, son." As Jason sat, he explained further. "The board of directors, who make decisions for our school, want a girl on the line. When Vida moved here, it was an opportunity they couldn't resist. I'm sorry, Jason. I had to."  
Without a word, Jason got up and left, slamming the door loudly behind him.  
  
The drum room was unusually quiet when Jason returned for his snare. Opening the door, he found the entire drumline sitting on the floor against the wall on one side of the room. On the other side, with a despairing look on her face, stood Vida.  
  
Vida silently cursed. It was bad enough that the entire line treated her like she had the plague, but to have that cute boy - what was his name? Jason? - from the line outside the director's office witness it was even worse. And the drum captain, whoever he was, she had at least expected him to act mature and handle this. Jason moved to her side and faced the boys. He spoke.  
"Guys..I know."  
And with that, he fixed them with a look that brought them to their feet and shuffling towards their drums.  
Vida turned towards the nearest snare player. The look on her face conveyed her question obviously enough, but he just shook his head and pointed at Jason. She turned to him, feeling like she was going to cry. But Jason smiled, and placing his hand on the small of her back, led her to a snare neatly packed in its Yamaha box. Unsnapping the straps, he lifted it out. "This is yours," he said. "If it breaks, fix it or get someone else to. It shouldn't, though. Jamie." he swallowed hard, "Jamie, he took good care of it. He really liked it." He then took down another one. "This one's mine." Setting it down, he led her to the rack of harnesses. He took one off and put it on, and grabbed another. Placing it over her head, he stepped back and surveyed it with a critical eye. "Too big. Try this one." As she took it off, Jason took down another harness and handed it to her. "Perfect. You know how it goes? Good. Let's go, field time is in three minutes." 


	2. WHERE'S MY DRUM?

As they walked onto the field, Jason explained to Vida how the line worked. Most of it was pretty basic stuff-be ready for practice on time, keep your drum in good condition, the usual stuff. Asking permission and getting it, he reached into her stick bag and pulled out her sticks. "Tom Floats? They're ok.but we use Ralph Hardimons. Get yourself some before the next practice, ok? And wrap them with white stick tape-it's a requirement." Vida nodded. "Sounds good. So, what's the show this year about?" Jason grinned. "We decided to go against the traditional and do something.unique. So, me and the other section leaders got together and chose it. It's Arabian themed - we're calling it "Genie in a Bottle"." Seeing the look on her face, he hastened to reassure her. "Don't worry! No Christina Agulera songs-it's all good music. I promise!" She grinned. "Thank God for THAT! I was worried there." He smiled. "Don't you trust your captain? You should." He raised an eyebrow suggestively as they walked onto the field. "Oh - here's your drill book and a pencil. You'll need it. We're starting on page 1. That's..here." He pointed to a spot on the page. "Dear God," she exclaimed, "does he write this drill in CRAYON???" Jason laughed. "Actually, we have a book on that right now.wanna join?" "SET!" came a voice over the loudspeaker. The two hastened to their drill spots and faced front at parade rest. "BAND ATTEN-HUT!" With a precision only associated with the military, the band snapped to attention. "Let's go, people!"  
  
As the day wore on, it grew hotter and hotter. When the director finally called for a break, ragged cheers rose from the field. They rushed off the hot pavement to the shade and their water. The drumline went towards a corner of the school, in the shade. They set down their drums and left them there to go get their own water and shade. This proved to be a very bad idea, as Vida soon realized. "Hey! Where is my DRUM??" she demanded. No one looked at her. "I NEED it, you guys. And I need it right now." Vida stood her ground, but no one said anything. "Fine," she muttered. "I don't need this.I'll go find it myself." With that, she stalked off, fuming. Jason glanced around nervously. There was one minute till the end of the break, and Vida was nowhere to be seen. He couldn't go look for her-they would both get in trouble. Where could she be? he mentally asked himself. Just then, he saw her running towards the arc. "Thank God" he muttered. That was close. Vida slowed down as she reached the line and tucked herself into place between Jason and Nick. He looked at her strangely. Something seemed different. Suddenly, it fell into place. "Where the fuck is your drum??" he whispered savagely. "I KNOW this isn't yours. WHERE IS YOUR DRUM??" Vida looked away and bit her lip. "I.don't know." "WHAT DO YOU MEAN, YOU DON'T KNOW????" Jason was furious. "I TOLD you to take CARE of it! Those drums are expensive, you know!" "I know, ok?? When I came back from break, it was.gone. No one would tell me where it was.so I ran back into the drum room and grabbed another drum and harness." Seeing the look of despair on his face, she added, "Don't worry. I put the diaper on, see? It's ok. They won't be able to tell. If they do, I'll take the rap. Not your responsibility, ok?" If only I felt as confident as I sound.she thought. Jason had no chance to answer, as they were called to attention. He was still fuming inside. I can't believe they stole her drum! If it's damaged in any way.I can't be responsible for what I might do. He mentally tried to convince himself it was the drum he was worried about. I mean, it's really expensive.and besides, it's not her fault that her drum was stolen. And what if she gets in trouble? As they started the drill, his thoughts drifted to other things, mostly music. But every so often, Vida's face would drift into his thoughts. This is crazy.he thought. When practice finally ended, Jason held the drumline for a meeting. "It has come to my attention that a drum has been found missing. Now, we all know that no one outside of the line would EVER touch a drum of ours. Therefore, we must assume it was someone in the line, which is even more despicable. If that drum is not back in its case by tomorrow morning, there will be some serious laps to run, and lots of pushups to do. And I mean by EVERYONE. So, I suggest that anyone who knows anything about it either tells me or puts it back where it belongs. DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR?" The line chorused a response and started to straggle inside. "Wait, boys.I didn't say you could go" said Jason, with a devilish grin on his face. "I think we have time for some 'motivational' pushups, don't you?" The line groaned. "Well, as long as you're so enthusiastic, I say we do fifty." The groans of the line echoed along the school for quite a while after that. 


End file.
